CAPITAL ISSUE

George P, McCannCHICAGO TRIBUNE

I am struck by the lack of capitalization of the word ''Black'' in your newspaper when it is used in reference to persons of African heritage. In all fairness, your rationale for not capitalizaing the term ''Black'' might stem simply from your unawareness of the importance of the issue.

The primary reason for capitalizing the word ''Black'' is that it refers not to the skin color, but rather to the self-defined term of identity of an incredibly large and diverse group of people. In a similar sense, we capitalize the words Italian-American, Irish and Hispanic. Only if we wished to deny respect would we not capitalize a designated term.

The noncapitalization of the identity of Blacks is a symbol of our culture`s attempts to restrict power, privilege and decency from this group.